Debate over satellite spectrum allocation: Jio, OneWeb up the ante

In a new development in the ongoing spectrum battle, India’s largest telecommunications carrier by subscriber count, Reliance Jio, has written to the regulator, arguing that the Telecommunications Act, 2023, does not mandate “administrative allocation as the only method of assignment” for satellite operators.

Jio contends that the Act includes provisions allowing the government to amend the First Schedule, which currently lists services where spectrum can be assigned administratively, including global mobile personal communications by satellite (GMPCS).